AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE is a sitcom, just for laughs and entertainment. But why do the writers like to torture us with odd inconsistencies that just make longtime viewers scratch their heads? A different writer and director from last week's slick episode shows in this uneven advance of key storylines.
Since Katie no longer has her lasagna business, she decides to launch her mommy vlog, Can Do Katie, as an educational series, homeschooling Anna-Kat and Franklin (Evan O'Toole) who are stuck at home with their mono.
Meanwhile Cooper has outgrown Oliver's bedroom, so they decide to renovate the basement. With the Bradford fortune at his fingertips, the basement is quickly and silently changed to the ultimate bro pad with its own subway-tiled kitchen - faster than you can say "set change." Cooper also shakes his money tree to pay for an SAT tutor for Oliver.
And Taylor scores an A on her first college paper about Dora the Explorer. A suspicious Greg wonders if the Teaching Assistant (TA) didn't just give Taylor the grade for her looks.
But wait, Taylor, who was painted as not-so-bright (remember her to-do list), managed to get accepted into Carnegie Mellon last season but chose not to go right away. So why does Greg say he had to pull some strings to get Taylor into his college? With visions of the Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman college admissions scandal, did Taylor really need her dad's help if she was Carnegie Mellon material?
When Taylor confronts the TA, he compliments her choice of subject matter and that she defeated autocorrect. There's definitely a hint of attraction between Taylor and her TA, which might be setting us up for a Tripp/Taylor breakup in the future.
Although Katie's ranting vlog was funny material, the "be true to yourself" theme is getting tired. Katie has known this since she was proud and loud of being the fattest mom in Westport. Nevertheless, the "Can Do Katie" vlog gets rebranded as "Real Mom."
And what a surprise, Cooper learns that money isn't everything. Can we advance his character a little bit more? We know more about Franklin than we do about Cooper!
Happy Thanksgiving! (spoiler) Next week's episode doesn't bode well for the high school sweethearts.
Harrison Cheung (@harrisonic) is the author of the award-winning biography of Christian Bale (BenBella Books) and a contributor to Brave New Hollywood and The TV Ratings Guide.